A wildfire burns Monday in the cottonwood trees at Carpenter Ranch just east of Hayden. Firefighters planned to resume fighting the fire on Tuesday morning.

Photo by Scott Franz

A wildfire burns at the Carpenter Ranch just east of Hayden. West Routt Fire Chief Bryan Rickman said the fire has grown from half of an acre to five acres, but still is not threatening any structures.

Hayden  Firefighters from around Routt County spent much of Monday battling a wildfire that grew quickly at the Carpenter Ranch just east of Hayden.

Emergency responders said the fire, which continued to burn Monday night in grassland and cottonwood trees, should remind residents here about the elevated fire danger.

As he left the fire Monday night, Routt County Emergency Management Director Bob Struble said the wildfire held to about 5 acres and was not threatening any structures as firefighters prepared to pause for the night.

He said the firefighting efforts will resume in earnest at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

"We'll hit it hard again" Tuesday, Struble said.

Earlier, West Routt Fire Chief Bryan Rickman said the fire, which was reported at 11 a.m. Monday, quickly grew from half an acre to 5 acres.

Rickman thinks the fire actually started at about 9 p.m. Sunday night, the result of a lightning strike that smoldered until Monday morning.

"My hope is it will not continue to grow," Rickman said, adding that fire crews had established a "wet line" around 75 percent of the burn area by Monday afternoon. "We're maintaining right now, but I'm very concerned if we get high winds (Tuesday), that could change."